Villagers victims in bomb raid slaughter

More than 100 people in the Darfur region of Sudan are believed to have been killed after aircraft bombed a village. The attack brazenly flouted a ceasefire in the area and all but destroyed the settlement.

The bombing apparently took place on Wednesday night and hit the village of Shangil Tobaya, around 65km from El-Fasher in the south of the region.

A spokesman for the African Union (AU) confirmed yesterday that the attack, which was almost certainly carried out by Sudanese Government forces, was "the most serious attack in recent months". On January 16 the neighbouring village of Hamada was attacked from the air and, according to a UN team, virtually wiped out.

The ceasefire between rebel forces and the Sudanese Government has been violated almost 100 times since it was signed last April. Survivors of the recent attacks have fled to the nearby town of Menawashi, although Save the Children, the only aid agency that had worked there, was expelled from the country last year. Other humanitarian organisations are now going to the area to provide food and shelter for refugees.

Meanwhile, Arab armed militias known as the Janjaweed attacked another village and killed three people. The AU has sent monitors to get more information on the attacks and determine whether the Sudanese Government played a role in the raids.

Aid workers in the camps dotted around Darfur have reported a large influx of people in recent weeks, all of whom claim to have been attacked by the Janjaweed and Sudanese Government aircraft. The Sudanese Government has always denied that it has links to the Arab militias but civilians say they co-ordinate attacks.

Negotiations over Darfur have had little success. All sides are due to resume peace talks in Nigeria next week.

The talks collapsed last month after the rebels accused the Government of continuing military operations in south Darfur.

- INDEPENDENT